to be broken up into smaller, easier to comprehend components, used in the context of analyses or messages that might be overwhelming if due thought is not applied beforehand, as in: “Before we share the report let’s break it down into more digestible sections”; something that is easily digestible can be quickly grasped by the intended audience, and so is not a characteristic of messages intended to obfuscate; similar to granular; pushes in the opposite direction of chunk up, which is used where something has been reduced to an overly-mashed slurry that needs more substance

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(noun) the solution or thing sought as an output of some process, combined with a failed attempt to sound smart, as in “The one thing we need this project to tell us is our total addressable market, that’s the main solve”; like unlock, watch-out, and ask, this jargon follows the common pattern of taking a verb and employing it as a bare noun that encapsulates its connotations of action without describing them explicitly; generally used when the path to achieving an objective is convoluted or yet to be clarified

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(British) to be scattered or discombobulated to an extent that indicates the situation is out of control or the subject lacks confidence in the right direction to take, as in “We tried talking to the operations team about how to fix the defect rates, but they were just all over the shop”; someone behaving in such fashion would be well advised to get a handle on the situation post haste to avoid being relieved of their responsibilities; contrast with bull in a china shop, which refers to frenetic or agitated behavior that creates significant collateral damage, characterizing someone as “all over the shop” indicates disorder without the same sense of destructiveness

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to begin tentative explorations of a topic, as if one is gently tugging on a thread that forms part of a larger fabric or knot, to see what is discovered as it unravels, as in “We need to pull the string a little on those pilot results before we’ll know where to go next”; suggests an issue of complexity and uncertainty that needs to be handled with delicacy to avoid causing disruption; see also black box, which refers to ideas that are even less amenable to inquiry

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(adj., obscure) describes a signal or information received outside of the mechanisms used in standard operations; derives from the concept in telecommunications or networking in which a separate channel is reserved for relaying special messages outside of the core data stream; receiving an out-of-band message can be a means of alerting someone to a significant issue that might otherwise be obscured if one remains engrossed in heads-down, day-to-day work, as in “Discovering that our largest customer was having quiet meetings with the competition was a pretty important out-of-band message to leadership”; similar to ping and optics and even eat your own dogfood, this jargon has transcended its technical origins to be adopted by those who want to veneer engineering sophistication over their more prosaic utterances

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to finish with in a manner that requires no future revisiting, as in “Let’s do one final check of those assumptions and then put the financial model to bed”; evinces the unspoken desire to be done with a topic and move on to the next thing; can be uttered in complex contexts where work may drag on without a definite endpoint and decisiveness in the face of ambiguity is necessary; alas, in the real world when things are put to bed they often wake up the next morning lethargic and groggy

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var. pain point, refers to a notable source of difficulty, friction, or discomfort, which requires special attention to address or will otherwise be a focus of work, as in: “Agreeing on the new voting structure has been the biggest pressure point in this deal”; can be a means of alluding to unpleasant challenges in a way that sounds dispassionate and impersonal; correctly recognizing and mitigating pressure points is an important condition for successfully achieving a project’s objectives, and conversely misidentifying or ignoring them can derail one’s efforts

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an irritated brushoff or deflection delivered when one party is fed up with the behavior or antics of another, as in “If we don’t show up to the next meeting with a firm proposal they’re going to tell us to go pound sand”; pounding sand is here noteworthy for its tedium and pointlessness, and being encouraged to do so intentionally telegraphs displeasure at the current state of affairs, including a whiff of contempt; not often used in direct conversation with the object of disdain for fear of sounding unprofessional or even archaic, as the expression itself is many decades old and can come across as folksy or old-fashioned; unlike much jargon that is designed to elide potential conflict or unpleasantness, this expression amplifies it

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to shift an unwelcome burden onto another party, for example from subordinate to manager or amongst the various parties to a complex transaction; the metaphor uses monkeys to evoke their potential to cause disruption or chaos, given their wildness, agility, and general chittering; the expression derives from a classic Harvard Business Review article from 1974 in which managers are counseled to ensure monkeys remain on the backs of their subordinates, which reduces the risk of getting bogged down in inefficient work and empowers others to act; a monkey clinging to one’s back is presumably difficult to confront directly or remove but cannot be left unaddressed, for obvious reasons

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to be extended past the point of stability or what is warranted by the facts, or to have slightly exceeded the bounds of competence, credibility, or prudence, such that one now risks embarrassment or potentially losing control of the situation should things accelerate; from the principle in downhill skiing that the one should remain balanced properly over the skis’ contact points, so as to avoid loss of equilibrium and a potential wild tumble down the slope, which can happen quickly depending on the steepness of the mountain; to be out over one’s skis is usually due to callowness or eagerness but not bad intent, and the use of this expression can be a gentle admonition to someone without impugning their motivations, as in “I know you wanted to make a good impression but disclosing those results early means we’re now a bit over our skis”

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